Good morning, Cookeville.

Happy October 1st! The biggest national story of the week, as far as I'm concerned, is that a brown bear named Backpack just won Fat Bear Week in Alaska by about 5,000 votes. He spent the whole summer eating salmon to get ready for fall. I've been doing the same thing with pumpkin bread, and so far nobody has nominated me.

In today's Cookeville Scoop:

Let's get into it.

Register to vote by Monday. If you're not registered in Putnam County yet, the deadline for the November election is Monday, October 5. The Election Commission at 705 County Services Drive is open 8 AM to 4 PM on weekdays, so Friday is your last chance inside this issue. Mail forms count if they're postmarked by the 5th. Early voting runs October 14 through 29. Read the details.

Granville throws its Fall Celebration on Saturday. There's a quilt show with more than 200 quilts in competition, a quilt parade, a cornbread cookoff (entries open at 8:30 AM), and Jazz on the Cumberland with The Blues Brokers and The Jazz Alliance Big Band. Fourteen Tennessee distillers pour from noon to 4 PM. That tasting is $10 on top of festival admission, and you have to be 21. Admission isn't posted, so call 931-653-4151. See the schedule.

Indigenous Tennessee is at Plenty tonight. Troy Smith gives the talk from 6:30 to 8 PM at 41 W Broad Street, and Indigenous chef Jody Mattena cooks the meal. It's free, and it's aimed at college students and young adults. It kicks off a three-part America 250 series, with the Civil War in Putnam County up next on October 8. Plenty suggests asking your professor about extra credit. Register here.

Plenty's monthly Writers Workshop is Friday. It runs 11 AM to 12:15 PM, led by Tennessee Tech faculty or a local author, and it's open to every skill level. The $20 includes a drink from The Neighborhood Cafe, which is a pretty good deal for a writing class. Sign up.

Statemint's fall sale is in its last three days. The pop-up consignment sale is open 10 AM to 8 PM today and Friday, then 10 AM to 4 PM Saturday, at the Putnam County Convention Center, 2121 Event Center Drive. Entry is free. See hours.

11 Oak Nutrition turns five today. The family-owned shop at 11 N Oak Avenue is known for loaded teas, beauty teas, and protein shakes, with seasonal flavors that rotate through the year. Tech students and hospital staff are regulars. The Chamber cuts the ribbon from 2 to 2:30 PM, so stop by and raise a cup. Read more.

Father Tom's runs two happy hours a day. At 32 N Cedar Avenue, it's 3 to 6 PM and then a "Secret Happy Hour" from 9 to 10:30 PM, and both are on the calendar every night this weekend. You get $1 off house wine and well drinks, $2 off 16-ounce drafts, and $8 select appetizers. If you'd rather have brats, Drake's Oktoberfest menu ends Sunday. See Father Tom's events.

Lazy G Ranch has about 150 bison on 280 acres off Dodson Branch Road. This Friday and Saturday, it also has chuckwagons.

The 4th Annual Putnam County Chuckwagon Festival turns the ranch into a Wild West weekend: cowboy cooking, demonstrations, cattle roping, re-enactors, and wagon rides out to see the herd. Visit Cookeville runs it, and the two days are built differently, so pick your day first.

Friday is free. From 10 AM to 5:30 PM, it's a Family Demonstration Day plus a Youth Chuckwagon Cook-Off for ages 12 to 18. There's no chuckwagon meal on Friday, only food trucks. If you want to see the setup and let the kids watch other kids cook over a fire, without buying tickets, this is your day.

Saturday is meal day. It's a shorter day, 10 AM to 2:30 PM, and your ticket includes a chuckwagon meal served from noon to 12:45 PM. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for kids 12 and under, and free for 2 and under. There's also a free kids' area, and bison tour wagon rides are $10. (Bison are the biggest land animal in North America, so a wagon seat is the right place to watch from.)

A few practical notes. This is a working farm with hay-field parking, and Visit Cookeville says it isn't entirely wheelchair accessible. Weather.com has Friday at 40% rain and Saturday at 44%, so wear boots you don't mind getting muddy. The meal window is 45 minutes, so get there before noon on Saturday.

It's a long way from the Square, and it's one of the more Cookeville things you can do all fall!

Festival details · Buy meal tickets

Friday is Day 45 for Putnam County Schools and the end of the first nine weeks. After the last bell, the kids are home.

One correction to Monday's issue. The district calendar has fall break from October 5 through 16, then a teacher in-service day on Monday, October 19. Students go back Tuesday, October 20, not the 19th. That's 17 days of free time once you count both weekends and the in-service day.

First weekend:

Week one:

The guide has all 17 days sorted by grade, plus rainy-day backups and at-home projects. See the full fall break guide.

Cookeville Regional's new rehab hospital has a timeline. Encompass Health told the CRMC board Wednesday that demolition of the outpatient unit starts next week. After about 11 months of construction, the goal is a first patient by late 2027. The plan is a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital with room for 10 more beds. The board also named Dr. Scott Copeland its new chairman.

The old unit comes down next week. Rehab starts with the building.

Thursday, October 1

Cookie Day Storytime – National Homemade Cookies Day storytime at the Monterey branch, 10:30 to 11:30 AM

Red Cross Blood Drive – Give at the Monterey branch, noon to 4 PM

Senior Bingo – Free bingo at the Cookeville library, 2 to 3 PM

City Council – A vote on the Dogwood Circle rezoning neighbors objected to, 45 E Broad Street, 5:30 PM

Dungeons & Dragons – Roll in at the Cookeville library, 5 to 7:45 PM

Dabgo Music Bingo – Free phone bingo at Roasted, 21+, 7 to 9 PM

Friday, October 2

Train Tales – Preschool train storytime at the Depot, 10:30 AM

Chuckwagon Festival – Free demo day and youth cook-off at Lazy G Ranch, 10 AM to 5:30 PM

Friday Matinee: Project Hail Mary – A free screening at the Cookeville library, noon to 2:30 PM

Teen Smash Bros. Tournament – Ages 13 and up at the library, 3:30 to 5 PM

First Friday – Six local artists at Cookeville Art Studio for the last First Friday of the year, free ($5 suggested), 5 to 8 PM

Shakespeare in the Park – Opening night of All's Well That Ends Well at Dogwood, free, 7 PM

Upperman vs. Livingston Academy – A home region game in Baxter at 7 PM, while Cookeville plays at Maryville

Saturday, October 3

Twice-Told Book Sale – Most items $3 or less at the Cookeville library, 10 AM to 1 PM

Tales on the Trail – A free audiobook walk from Plenty, RSVP on the page, 10 AM

Chuckwagon Festival – Meal day at Lazy G Ranch, 10 AM to 2:30 PM

Melissa Grace – A free author talk on Where You Lead, with Meredith Lyons, at Plenty, 5 to 7 PM

Tennessee Tech at Western Carolina – Away in Cullowhee, 5 PM Central on ESPN+

Shakespeare in the Park – Night two at Dogwood, free, 7 PM

Roasted Karaoke – Free, 21+, 7 to 11 PM

Sunday, October 4

Tennessee Tech Soccer vs. VMI – Home at Tech Soccer Field, 1 PM

Dabgo Music Bingo – The afternoon round at Roasted, 3 to 5 PM

Shakespeare in the Park – Night three at Dogwood, free, 7 PM, with a 79% rain chance

Shakespeare in the Park opens Friday. The 22nd season brings free All's Well That Ends Well to the Dogwood Pavilion lawn at 7 PM Friday through Sunday. Bring a blanket, chairs, or a picnic, and the concession stand will be open. Sunday has a 79% rain chance, so call 931-528-1313 before you go that night. The show is dark Monday and Tuesday, then returns October 7–10. See the city listing.

Friday

Cookeville Art Studio and Gallery – Raniece Can at First Friday, 5 PM. Link

Putnam County Library, Cookeville – Tennessee Tech School of Music faculty and students, free classical concert, 7 PM. Link

Saturday

Steamers at Mitchell Creek Marina, Dale Hollow – Dry County ContraBand, 7 PM. Link

Mauricio's Italian Restaurant has been serving since 2002 out of a 1910 house at 232 N Peachtree Avenue. Inside, there are hardwood floors, 12-foot ceilings, five dining rooms (three with fireplaces), candlelit tables, and '40s and '50s music. Courses come out one at a time, and dinner for two takes about an hour and a half, which is the point. More than half of the 20-plus wines are Old World Italian. Dinner is 4 to 9 PM Thursday through Saturday, and it's closed Sunday. Reservations are required, so call 931-528-2456 and ask about the cancellation list if you're late to plan. If Shakespeare is next, tell your server when you sit down. See Mauricio's.

Thursday 89 / 68 | 3% rain

Friday 85 / 63 | 40% rain

Saturday 76 / 61 | 44% rain

Share this with a parent who's about to have the kids home for 17 days. Got a fall break plan that works, or spot a time I got wrong? Reply and tell me. I'll pass the good ideas along.

Thanks for reading, Cookeville. Go see some bison, catch the opening of a play, and enjoy the first quiet morning of fall break. October came in at 89. Hold out for Sunday. 🧡

-- Travis